Wooden Axe, "Rest is for the dead !"

Introduction

First of all, I would like to apologize for my bad english. I tried to write this first guide as best as I could to make it quick to read and easy to understand for everybody.

I wanted to share my personal experience with Axe, a really special champion with his very own gameplay. I usually play him as a 'jungler' and, after many tries, I discovered this build which, while it is not so different from the original one, is great for jungling/ganking and allows Axe to roam more effectively in every stages of the game without being out of mana and low in hp everytime.

Axe is often played as 100% tank with Battle Hunger upgraded after Stats at the very end of the game (mostly never). I wanted to play him in a different way so I made this build. I'm quite proud of it because it is very effective throughout the game and lethal in the early stages (in pub's at least).

It's an aggressive build that allows you to keep the pressure on your enemies all the time. It prevents them to farm effectively and incites them to make mistakes.

So let's see what you think about it !

Pros / Cons

Axe's pros

- High HP regeneration rate
- Very good jungler and roamer
- AoE crowd control
- Can easily kill fleeing enemies (even in fog of war) with Battle Hunger
- Can instakill damaged enemies with Culling Blade
(even with magic immunity or Dazzle's Shallow Grave)
- Useful against invisible enemies
- Can disable enemies Blink Daggers with Battle Hunger

Axe's cons

- No real escaping or engaging mechanism (except Blink Dagger)
- Quite low physical dps
- Very mana dependent on mid game
- May steal some kills unintentionally with Battle Hunger
- Becomes less effective late in the game


Pros and cons of this build

- With Tranquil Boots and Soul Ring equipped, almost no need to return to base
- Rarely out of mana
- Allows you to keep the pressure on the opponent team
- Lethal in early stages but still tanky late in the game

- The Soul Ring's life cost may be a problem in some cases (while fleeing for example)

Items

Starting



Starting items are quite conventional: 6 Tangos, 1 Healing Salve, 1 Stout Shield and 1 Iron Branch. They allow you to go into the jungle without difficulty with Counter Helix at level 1. You're not obligated to buy the Iron Branch : not taking it can help you to buy the first Ring of Regen faster but a +1 bonus in all attributes almost for free (27g loss when you sold it) is always nice.

Early game



After the first few minutes of jungling, you can buy the first Ring of Regen (for the Tranquil Boots) followed shortly by a second one (for the Soul Ring) brought to you by your Animal Courier. These two rings increase your life regeneration to 7hp/s and you can continue to jungle without buying new Tangos. Finally, buy Boots of Speed.

Core



Once you have purchased the Boots of Speed, you must rush for the Ring of Protection to get the Tranquil Boots through which you will not lose hp in the jungle anymore. Then, order your Animal Courier to bring you the recipe of Soul Ring while you're farming in the jungle. Afterwards, try to gank on a lane (bot lane if you're in the Radiant team, top for the Dire team) and take the opportunity to buy the Sage's Mask and complete your Soul Ring. It will give you a constant supply of mana because it increases your mana regeneration but also gives you the asset gain 150 mana. The hp cost is quickly filled by either your hp regeneration or your Tranquil Boots. You will be able to constantly harass the enemy with Battle Hunger (importance of properly controlling the 'deny' mechanism).

I've choosen to buy the Tranquil Boots and the Soul Ring instead of the Arcane Boots because it costs 325 gold more only (1825 instead of 1500) for a better hp regeneration (more than 15hp/s with Tranquil Boots, Soul Ring and Vanguard) and mana regeneration (potentially 150 mana every 25 seconds + 50% mana regeneration instead of 115 mana every 45 seconds + 250 mana max with the Arcanes Boots). Moreover, you can buy parts of these equipments more faster thanks to their low cost and thus reduce the risk of losing money in a failed gank. The only downside is that you can no longer give mana to allies but in most of the cases Axe's players use the Arcane Boots for their own purpose anyway.

Go now for the Vanguard starting with Ring of Health then Vitality Booster. This shield makes Axe more tanky, able to heal himself when he's 'jungling' (after a teamfight or a gank) and makes the loss of health due to the Soul Ring insignificant. Finish the core items by buying a Blink Dagger. It is impossible to do without because it allows you to engage, to catch fleeing enemies and even sometimes to flee your enemies and thus fills the largest gaps of Axe.

Situational



The Heart of Tarrasque is almost everytime the best option, especially when your team has the advantage. It is rare to have to buy other situational items without getting it first because once you have it you never need to return to the base anymore and you can keep pushing and harassing the enemies.

If the game lasts too long and you can buy something else after the Heart of Tarrasque, you should buy either the Assault Cuirass (if no ally has already bought it (note that the Assault Cuirass greatly increases your dps, so you can sometimes overcome a fed 'carry' alone) or the Shiva's Guard (if the opposing team is made ​​up of several (more or less) fed 'carries').

The Pipe of Insight can sometimes be useful if the support of your team did not buy it and if there is a Lich, a Shadow Fiend or other AoE nukers in the opposing team.

Skills

Take Counter Helix as first skill and go to the jungle (don't forget to check the Rune). At level 2, take Battle Hunger (you will not use it at this level but you must upgrade it quickly). Then upgrade Counter Helix again to 'jungle' more easily (you don't need to upgrade it more for now.) Afterwards, maximize Battle Hunger (but don't forget to take your Culling Blade at level 6).

You'll have to cast Battle Hunger on an enemy everytime you pass nearby the lane or everytime you attempt to gank the enemies (bot or top, depending on your team (Radiant or Dire)). If you fail your gank, you can go back to the jungle, heal yourself with the Tranquil Boots, recover some mana and gank again one minute later. You can also go mid and use Battle Hunger just to harass the enemy. That way you can help on every lane without stealing xp and gold and often permit or make easy kills.

Berserker's Call is not necessary at low level. By leveling it, your dps will go down heavily. You'll have to rely on your allies' crowd control and wait for your 8th and 9th level (when Battle Hunger is maximized) to upgrade it at level 2. (If no one of your allies has a crowd control skill you can consider upgrading Berserker's Call instead of Battle Hunger at your 2nd level). Then upgrade your skills by alternating between Counter Helix and Berserker's Call (Obviously with Culling Blade at your 11th level).

Finish your skill template with Stats and the 3rd level of Culling Blade at level 16.

When should I pick Axe ?

Should

- If there is no tank in your team

Obviously, no comment.

- If no one wants to jungle and one of your mate has picked a good solo champion ( Lone Druid, Broodmother,...)

A solo top/bot lane can be a real advantage for your team (by getting more gold and xp) and will allow Axe to roam more easily but stay alert and don't let your ally alone too long especially if he has trouble to farm and to keep the lane. The use of Battle Hunger on the opponent support without getting out of the jungle and interrupting your farming (at least every 25 seconds with the Soul Ring) can help a lot especially since you don't need mana in the woods.

- If there is an invisible character in the enemy team such as Riki, Bounty Hunter, Templar Assassin, Broodmother or any character who often takes the Shadow Blade ( Sniper, Viper, Gyrocopter,...)

Axe is a good counter to invisible enemies : each one of your skills are effective against those champions. Berserker's Call can force your foes to attack you and become visible, especially when they use their invisibility as a mean of escape. Battle Hunger is a real pain too, as they are obligated to make themselves visible to no longer suffer the damages. Counter Helix, as an AoE skill, can still damage them. And last but not least, Culling Blade can quickly finish the enemy before he becomes invisible again.

- If Dazzle or Omniknight are in the opposite team

Since you're able to finish enemies (especially 'carries') even with Shallow Grave, or Repel and Guardian Angel thanks to your Culling Blade.

- If Huskar is in the opposite team

You MUST stop him with your Culling Blade when his life pool is low otherwise all your teammates will die because of his Berserker's Blood and lifesteal.

- If Broodmother is in the opposite team

Because of all the advantages against invisible champions and Axe's advantage to fight against many units ( Broodmother's spiderlings army) with Counter Helix.

Shouldn't

- If another player wants to go in the jungle (at least not with this build)

Axe is pretty good on lanes in early game but you may prefer to buy Arcane Boots to help your lane mate instead of Tranquil Boots and Soul Ring, you will have to leave all the gold to your ally unless you're not with a 'carry' (that would be strange) and you won't be able to roam between lanes as effectively as if you were a 'jungler'.

- If Lifestealer or Anti-Mage are in the opposite team

You can't taunt Lifestealer under Rage. It will leave him enough time to kill one or two teammates (if fed). Furthermore, taunting him after Rage will heal him most of the time because of Feast, Axe's high amount of hp and missing allies.

Anti-Mage is really annoying for most of champions and especially for this build with Axe. His Mana Break will quickly destroy your mana pool (which is not high at all) and prevent you to use Culling Blade or Battle Hunger. You'll still be able to perform some Counter Helix but won't be able to support your mates in fights and Axe's physical dps is low.

- If there are already too many 'strenght' champions in your team OR in the opposite team

Axe's lack of dps made him a bad choice in a team with a lot of champion with 'strenght' for main attribute (thus durable too) and his Battle Hunger will quickly become less effective against enemies with high amount of hp.

- If you (and your allies) can't 'deny' effectively enough

To keep the pressure with Battle Hunger, you must 'deny' almost every creeps you can.
Denying against characters like Sniper or Gyrocopter is not easy at all.

Conclusion

So this is my personal aggressive and funny (as well as reliable) build with Axe plus some tips and advices. I certainly will complete this guide if I find gaps or if I want to add some important news.

Thank you very much for reading my first guide. I hope I have not been too incomprehensible and that you enjoyed this build !

- Valgrim

"Cut and run !"